Muhammadu Buhari

Muhammadu Buhari (17 December 1942-) was President of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, succeeding Shehu Shagari and preceding Ibrahim Babangida, and from 29 May 2015, succeeding Goodluck Jonathan.

Biography
Muhammadu Buhari was born on 17 December 1942 in Daura, British Nigeria to a Sunni Muslim family. Buhari joined the Nigerian Army in 1961, and in July 1966 he took part in the coup that overthrew and killed Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi in the July Counter Coup. In 1975, as a Lieutenant-Colonel, he overthrew President Yakubu Gowon's dictatorship and he became miliary governor of Northeastern Nigeria afterwards. When Chad invaded Nigeria in 1983, Buhari refused to obey President Shehu Shagari's order to withdraw and fought back, crossing into Chadian territory and killing or capturing 100 Chadian troops, ending the 1983 affair. In December, as a Major-General, he then overthrew Shagari and declared himself military ruler of Nigeria on 31 December 1983. He broke ties with the International Monetary Fund and reformed the economy, raising interest rates, prohibiting state governments borrowing money, made a 15% budget cut, cut imports (except for raw materials and spare parts needed for agriculture and industry), and gave more powers to the National Security Organization (NSO) military police, jailing the military regime's critics.

In 1985, General Ibrahim Babaginda overthrew Buhari and the Supreme Military Council and seized power for himself, and Buhari joined the conservative All Nigeria Peoples Party as a politician. In 2015, with the support of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari was elected President of Nigeria democratically, and he gave his support for the total implementation of sharia in the country, despite a 4 January 2015 speech where he promoted freedom of religion. Buhari was one of the people that al-Shabaab felt comfortable mediating with, but they attempted to assassinate him many times, all of which failed.